The Houston Rockets, a true contender or just a mid-tier playoff team

[DontArgue4]

harden/howard vs kobe/howard

you raise a good point. i somewhat agree. thing with kobe is that he is all about winning. he's serious and hates clowns who muck around. im not saying harden is the joking type, but kobe and dh are like chalk and cheese.

asik - do you think he and dh can play at the same time?

You are spot on, Harden and Howard are very similar character wise, howard is a clown and harden is up for some fun too, i think both can put their minds to it when it comes time to play though. Howard and Kobe are polar opposites exactly as you said.

I honestly dont think that can work, their skill-sets are much too similar. If Gasol/Howard didnt work because of poor spacing (and gasol has a good mid-range jumpshot), imagine how much of a disaster this duo will be

 

[kingkingston]

Terrence Jones looked really good in the scrimmage clip the Rockets posted

 

[He_Beast]

pumped for the first ps game this weekend, just want to get a look at some of these guys

 

[Saintt]

harden/howard vs kobe/howard

you raise a good point. i somewhat agree. thing with kobe is that he is all about winning. he's serious and hates clowns who muck around. im not saying harden is the joking type, but kobe and dh are like chalk and cheese.

asik - do you think he and dh can play at the same time?

Still won't take a pay cut for a better chance to get some good players around him.

 

[fidstar]

harden/howard vs kobe/howard

you raise a good point. i somewhat agree. thing with kobe is that he is all about winning. he's serious and hates clowns who muck around. im not saying harden is the joking type, but kobe and dh are like chalk and cheese.

asik - do you think he and dh can play at the same time?

Shaq was a clown.

In saying that Howard isn't exactly a Shaq talent wise.

 

[peternorth]

Shaq was a clown.

In saying that Howard isn't exactly a Shaq talent wise.

true shaq was a clown. true. but kobe hadnt developed his ultra winning mentality then. it was shaqs team/town then.

 

[popin]

Howard has to have a MVP year i think

 

[popin]

Also Harden and Howard have to be in to be near top 20 scorers in the league

 

[djrossie16]

Howard has to have a MVP year i think

 

[kingkingston]

Howard looked great today and he had a few new offensive moves

 

[He_Beast]

Yeah he was pretty impressive.

 

[popin]

What about James Harden?

 

[kingkingston]

What about James Harden?

what about him ?

 

[popin]

How did he play?

 

[kingkingston]

How did he play?

just his usual smooth game, 21pts 3asts 6-11 shooting 3-6 from three

 

[popin]

He's a freak left hander

 

[Footypie32]

The one thing I think this team lacks is veteran leadership. If Dwight starts sulking when they're down by 15-20pts who is going to tell him to man-up and get his focus on the game?

 

[kingkingston]

The one thing I think this team lacks is veteran leadership. If Dwight starts sulking when they're down by 15-20pts who is going to tell him to man-up and get his focus on the game?

i don't think he has been in a team that really believes in him like this team seems to do and Harden and Parsons would talk to him if he had any sooks, but i get the feeling Howard is more happy now than in any other part of his career

 

[Footypie32]

i don't think he has been in a team that really believes in him like this team seems to do and Harden and Parsons would talk to him if he had any sooks, but i get the feeling Howard is more happy now than in any other part of his career

I think Orlando fans would strongly disagree with you, but you're entitled to your opinion.

 

[TheOz]

Reckon they'll be vying for 3rd in the West with OKC depending on Westbrook's health. Spurs and Clippers at one and two, Memphis and Golden State just behind them,

 

[stewie griffen]

Am I right in thinking that any receiving team are on the hook for 15 mill for asik in a trade this season after the poison pill deal?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Drumroe]

Am I right in thinking that any receiving team are on the hook for 15 mill for asik in a trade this season after the poison pill deal?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Nah, the deal only had the backloaded third year if Chicago matched, for any other team its evenly spread out over the 3 years. Although I've also heard that they still need the pay them 15mil, but it only counts against the salary against the 8 or whatever it is, not sure if that's right though. Either way, its only 8 or so mil against the cap. Great deal for a double double elite defender.

I still think a deal based around Ryno for Asik makes sense for both teams

 

[stewie griffen]

Yeah that's what I thought, on the cap for 8 but still paying the 15

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[Shane Mead]

I've never believed a team can come together and become contenders straight away. Can they get to the West finals? Yes. The major flaw through the pre-season has been learning how to properly pass into the post. Where does Dwight need the ball, when to pass it, how to pass it. Post entry passing is a lost art. Dwight looks much quicker than last season and is looking to utilize that rather than trying to be Superman. If the post entry passes can improve, Dwight will put up a high percentage from the low block.

Defensively the team will be beasts, 48 minute of elite rim protection and rebounding. Defense is where Championship teams are built from

The big questions are who out of Dmo, Jones and Smith can breakout and own the 4 spot. Can Harden, Parsons and other perimeter players improve their perimeter defense? Also can Casspi make shots, if he can and replicate what Delfino gave us the team is in better shape (Casspi is bigger than Delfino therefore more suited as the stretch 4).

What I like is the flexibility. The team can go really big (Beverly, Garcia, Parsons, Howard, Asik) or really small (Brooks, Beverly, Harden, Cassipi, Howard). The more options a team has the better.

Scoring clearly won't be an issue as the team is clearly being instructed to continue to push the pace just like last season.

The one thing I feel is certain is that Harden will have a career year and be a legitimate MVP candidate.

 

[PP34]

Horrible failure of a team, unless we count a token Western Conference finals appearance as an achievement.